Voltage converters like buck converters are generally used to provide an output voltage based on an input voltage. For example, voltage converters may be used internally in electronic circuits to generate one or more internal supply voltages based on an external supply voltage. Voltage converters may be regulated using feedback loops to provide a predefined regulated output voltage or a predefined regulated output current.
Such regulated voltage converters, also referred to as voltage regulators herein, are used in a variety of systems and devices, for example in microcontrollers or microprocessors, to generate stable supply voltages.
Current microcontrollers or microprocessors, to give an example, constitute highly dynamic loads for voltage regulators that supply them. Highly dynamic means that the requirements regarding a current to be supplied via the voltage regulator may change rapidly. For example, during a system boot or wakeup sequence, i.e. during startup of system or waking up the system from a low power mode, an average current that has to be provided to such a microprocessor or microcontroller may jump from values of less than 10 microamperes to hundreds of Milliamperes in less than 5 microseconds.
Furthermore, in some applications, for example in the automotive environment, a supply voltage provided as input voltage to the voltage converter may vary significantly, for example from less than 5.5 Volt to 13.5 Volt during cranking or from 13.5 Volt to 28 Volt or more during jump start or load dump events. Therefore, voltage regulators used in such environments need to be precise and fast in order to avoid problems like a system reset or electrical overstress of the supply microprocessor.